The Gift, Alternate ending
by Xena Avenger
Summary: A short One-shot rewrite to Buffy season 5, The Gift. Angel helps, things end different. Buffy/Angel.


Buffy Season 5, The Gift, Alternate ending including Angel. Short One-shot.

I've read a lot of fanfics with Angel added to season five, but him being there changes nothing. I had another idea.

Begins during the fight with Glory, Dawn already on tower, Buffybot destroyed. Buffy had called Angel for help. He came.

I'm ignoring the timeline of Angel season 2, so he wouldn't be in Pylea at the time. (Lets just pretend he comes back earlier.)

...

Angle and Buffy are fighting Glory, he tosses in a blow when he can, but he wasn't able to find many openings while trying to navigate the twisted tower. He looked up when he heard a yelp sound from above; if the circumstances were different he would have smiled watching Spike tossed from the upper platform and whooshing past him, but not now. If Spike was down…Dawn was unprotected. He cast a quick glance at Buffy, saw she was holding her own at the moment, and then climbed up as fast as vampiricly possible.

Dawn screamed Buffy's name as Doc cut into her, starting the blood flowing. Angel growled and tackled the 'man'.

"Ahh, I smell a soul on you." Doc said as Angel punched him. Doc manages to toss Angel off, and stands looking smug.

"Time is up, the blood is free." He says, and then lashes his frog-like tongue at Angel.

The Vampire doesn't move, he simply grabs the tongue out of the air and pulls. Doc is ripped forward like a yoyo and Angel takes advantage by wrapping the tongue around Doc's neck.

"Your time's up." Angel growls into his ear, as he tosses the man off the tower.

"Dawn!" Angel called as her reached her.

"Angel, it hurts!" she cried in pain, trying in vein to stop the bleeding.

Angel watched in horror as the blood droplets fell though the air and began to crackle and spark as the portal opened. A bolt of lightning flashes as the gateway opens and chaos begins.

_'Oh God no…__It's…it's just like me…just like Acathla all over again. Dawn's an innocent, Buffy won't let her die…and neither can I._' Angel thought a moment, '_How can I close the portal? How can I save Buffy and Dawn from having to make an impossible choice?_'

"_Cause it's always got to be blood._" Spike's voice sounded in his head.

"Blood." He whispered. Suddenly he understood what he had to do.

'_Buffy will be devastated…and beyond furious…but she will come to understand_. _I hope_.' Angel wrapped his arms around the shaking, crying girl in front of him. '_She's too young to have to deal with all this_.' He thought.

"Shh Dawn, its ok. Everything will be ok." She nodded into his shoulder, accepting the lie he offered her. '_I have to die, so save the world…all of them._' She thought. Hugging him tightly, she didn't see him vamp.

"I'm sorry Dawn, I have to." he whispered into her ear.

"I know" she whispered and braced for death, she bravely didn't cry out when she felt his fangs sink into her neck.

...

Buffy finally broke away from Glory, Ben regaining control and rendering her powerless. She thought of ending his life, for all the misery caused by Glory…but realized Ben was like Dawn…he was essentially an innocent caught in the mix. She let him go. She didn't notice Giles as he came to sit with Ben.

"Dawn!" she yelled looking up and seeing the portal forming in the air beneath the platform.

'_No, NO, NO! Not again! This can't be happening again_!' Her mind screamed as she raced up to the top. Her thought's replaying having to kill Angel to close Acathla's Hell portal. '_Not Dawn…NOT DAWN!'_

Buffy reached the top and skidded to a halt, her thoughts vaporized as she saw Angel drinking Dawn.

"DAWN!" Buffy screamed in angry terror and ran towards them, in that second, fully intending to kill Angel before Dawn died.

As Buffy reached them Angel shoved Dawn's limp body into Buffy's arms. Before she could even react to that Angel's lips covered hers. The passion in that kiss almost brought her to her knees. The taste of her sister's blood on his lips eventually caused her to shutter and he pulled back. "I'm sorry, I had to. I love you." He whispered, and then he was gone.

Buffy looked up in time to see Angel disappear over the edge, jumping into the growing portal. Buffy stood too stunned to move, Dawn groaning in her arms snapped her out of her daze.

"Dawn?" Buffy's eyes widened when she realized her sister was alive, weak from the draining, but still alive nonetheless. Buffy hugged her half-conscious sister to her body, and then suddenly realized what Angel had done.

_'He drained her blood, the essence of The Key into himself. He…sacrificed himself…for her…for us._'

Buffy was well aware had Angel not been there, she would have jumped from the tower, she would have closed the portal herself.

Numbly, she looked over the edge and watched the portal disappear. In the distance, she could see Angel's body lying broken where it fell.

'_He's a vampire, maybe it didn't kill him?_' She clutched her precious burden closer to her chest and ran down the tower as fast was Slayerly possible.

Giles ran up to her when she reached the bottom, "Dawn?" he asked, thinking she had died.

"Alive" she said passing her unconscious sister to her watcher. "Call her an ambulance." She whispered as her eyes focused on Angel.

Giles looked down and saw the puncture wounds on the young girl's neck and suddenly understood what had happened. "Dear God." He whispered, and then silently thought it was bloody brilliant of Angel.

Buffy ran over to Angel's slightly charred body and dropped to her knees beside him; hope filled her when she realized he wasn't dust.

She leaned forward and ran her hand over his cheek, "Angel? Can you hear me?" Buffy gasped and pulled her hand back quickly when a spark of energy zapped her skin where it touched his.

Angel groaned and coughed, a small cloud of black smoke whisked from him.

"Ow" he mumbled as he pulled his extended limbs closer to his body.

"Angel?" she called again, this time when she touched him all she felt was his cool skin.

"Hmm?" he groaned as his eyes fluttered then opened. His brown eyes focused on a worried pair of hazel green eyes. He looked up, confused a moment, "Buffy? What…" His eyes widened, "Dawn!" he asked panicked.

She placed a hand over his chest, keeping him from rising. "She'll be ok. Might need a transfusion, but it's a billion times better than I thought this day would end." She reassured him.

In the distance a siren screamed into the night, signaling the approaching ambulance. She pulled his head into her lap and held him; neither of them was paying attention to the Scoobies silently hovering in for a closer view of the famous 'Buffy and Angel show' or to the lingering crazies wandering about. Spike was killing off any lingering minions, fuming over Buffy fawning over his ponce of a grand-sire.

"You're an idiot." Buffy said breaking the silence. Her emotions barely kept in check, but inside she was furious with him, not because he saved her sister's life, and coincidentally the world and probably hers too; but because he could have died…or worse.

"So I've been told." He said back.

She looked down at him and he looked up, he could see the tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, none of that." He said wiping the one tear that formed. "I think it turned out alright. Portal closed, chaos averted, and no one died…turned out better than most apocalypses." he said, trying to get her to smile.

Xander stepped in, "Yeah, at least Deadboy didn't get sent to Hell…again." Everyone in range sent him a 'Shut up' glare. He raised his hands and ducked him head in defeat, "Ok, ok, shutting up."

Angel let out an unneeded breath of relief "Always a plus." He added, referring to both not going to Hell…again…and the wonder of Xander shutting up.

Buffy shook her head, a brief grin tugging at her lips. "You're still an idiot." She repeated back to him.

He smirked, "Yeah, but it's your fault."

Buffy looked down at him, mock offended, "And how do you figure that?" she demanded.

He grinned, "I was content being Mr. Reclusive, but then you had to go and drag me into the world…make me all noble and heroic." He said sitting up.

She punched him in the arm. He winced, his body still aching from not only a fall from a twenty story tower, but from being electrocuted from the energy to boot. She ignored his wince and hugged him tightly, it hurt, but he didn't care, he squeezed her back.

"I'm sorry you had to see that…I didn't have time to…" she cut him off with a finger over his lips. "No, no apologies. Thank you." She said with as much emotion as possible.

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done." He gave it a beat, "well except the vampy parts."

She smiled despite herself. "Yeah, I would have."

The ambulance pulled into the lot and Giles went towards it holding Dawn, conscious but weak, in his arms.

Buffy noticed the ambulance and realized she needed to go with Dawn. She gave Angel a torn look; he gave her a sad smile. "Go."

They both got to their feet and slowly walked towards the vehicle as the paramedics placed Dawn on the stretcher.

"Will…will you be here when I get back?" she asked cautiously.

He frowned, "If I could stay…you know I would. You know what it's gets like between us…and I've got my own team to run now." He replied unhappily.

She nodded, "I know…I mean I understand." She noticed her hand was in his, and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you for coming, it means a lot. I can't even imagine how this would have played out without you."

He shook his head, "You would have won, you always do." He said back to her.

She nodded, both knowing the price of winning would have been much higher had he not been able to come.

She pulled him into a tight hug, he hugged back.

"I told you I would always been here if you really needed me." He said.

She nodded again his chest, "Same for you, if you need help in L.A…." she trailed off.

"I know…I'll call." he said with a slight smile.

They slowly broke apart, neither of them wanting to but both knowing they led separate lives now, they didn't belong just to each other anymore. He turned to leave when she grabbed his hand and pulled him back, her arm wrapped around his neck as her lips crushed onto his. He returned the kiss with as much passion as on the platform before he jumped. "I love you." She whispered to him as soon as her lips were free. "I love you." He repeated back.

Before either of them lost their nerve, they parted. He walked out of the lot and melted into the night. She turned and walked to the awaiting ambulance. Neither of them chanced a backwards glance.

...

I am Buffy/Angel, but I also understand he had his own life. He is a hero now. I hate when people add him to Buffy's seasons just to be her boyfriend. He's destined for so much more! Don't steal his whole show from him! I might not like it and it might not be the best for Buffy and Angel's relationship...but he needs to grown on his own. They both do, to become the people they are at the end of the shows.


End file.
